North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
July 15, 2014
NATO TEAM ASSESSES LITHUANIAN CAPABILITIES
A small team of staff officers from JFC Brunssum has travelled to Lithuania and is currently reviewing potential infrastructure and assessing the logistical challenges of rapidly deploying a NATO presence to the area. The NATO Forward Integration team began its work on July 14 and is expected to complete its assessment in about one week’s time.
“NATO has deployed small teams of staff officers to several locations in eastern member nations in order to conduct surveys and planning that would facilitate a more rapid establishment of a NATO presence, should the situation warrant. Allies recognize that the security situation in Europe has fundamentally changed, and are conducting prudent measures to hone military capabilities and to decrease reaction times in response to any potential threats, ” said MGen Jerry Martinez, Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) at JFC Brunssum.
The information that the team in Lithuania gathers will be used to enhance operational capability, integration and interoperability between Allies and Partners for future exercises and reinforce NATO Assurance Measures in the Baltic Region.
The 12 staff officers from JFC Brunssum are visiting military installations, training facilities and infrastructure. While in Lithuania, the team will also visit the Joint Headquarters of the Lithuanian Armed Forces in Vilnius, the Lithuanian Air Force Headquarters in Kaunas, the Lithuanian Navy Headquarters in Klaipeda and Siauliai Airbase where NATO Air Policing Forces are currently deployed.
This isn’t the first fact finding mission for the NFIT team. The group was in Slovakia and Latvia last month in conjunction with NATO exercises. These visits by NATO experts are a proactive and effective way for the Alliance to enhance collective defence capability and ensure rapid responsiveness to secure NATO’s borders.
Story by SHAPE and JFC Brunssum Public Affairs Offices
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
July 15, 2014
NATO DEPLOYABLE COMMUNICATIONS UNIT CONDUCTS TRIALS IN LITHUANIA
Vilnius, LITHUANIA: NATO has sent a Deployable Communications Module (DCM) to Vilnius during the week of July 14 in order to exercise the unit’s ability to rapidly move and establish command and control assets across Alliance territory in response to any crisis.
The DCM, which deployed approximately 30 persons and 10 vehicles from Szekesfehervar, Hungary to the Lithuanian capital, is part of the 3rd NATO Signal Battalion of the NATO Communication and Information Systems Group (NCISG). The deployment to Lithuania was an operational readiness test designed to assess the Hungarian unit’s capabilities and responsiveness for contingency operations. The operational test is a new addition to regular DCM exercise training and is the first communications test of its kind for a NATO DCM.
“Our mission is to deploy a satellite ground terminal and connect to the Tactical Satellite Network to facilitate extension of the NATO communication infrastructure,” said Maj Lazlo Dozsa, the DCM Commander. “It’s a good opportunity to test our ability to carry out a deployment on short notice and verify and update our procedures as needed.”
In order to accomplish the goal of setting up secure and non-secure computer services for 30-50 users, the DCM had to deploy a wide range of equipment to include a portable satellite dish, computer servers, power generators, air conditioners, tents, communication cables, computers, fuel and other supplies.
The Hungarian unit was also proud to be part of this ‘first-of-a kind’ test of a DCM. “These soldiers are specially selected for this unit and are trained to deploy around the world in order to support NATO deployed operations.” said Maj. Dozsa. “It’s an honour for us to serve in the multinational environment.”
Story by JFC Brunssum Public Affairs Office
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